The Barnstable Chronicles: The Prodigy - 1. San Francisco

Parker Miller was sitting in his box seats at Davies Symphony Hall listening to Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini." It had been years since he had heard David Chase play in person. The box seats cost him a pretty fortune but watching his former best friend was worth every penny.

Parker couldn’t help his mind wander back to their high school years when they competed on the New England piano competition circuit. Yes, they were relatively equal as far as those competitions were concerned, with one of the boys winning nearly every one of them.

His mind then went to the many evenings after the competition, when he and David would learn all about the joys of boy-on-boy sex. While they agreed that they would be nothing more than best friends with even better benefits, the truth was that deep down—and very secretly, Parker Miller was totally and completely in love with his best friend.

It nearly broke Parker’s heart when David introduced him to Charlie Danner, the love of David’s life. However, it didn’t take long to see that Charlie was just as amazing as David had told him. Aware of their arrangement, Parker couldn’t help but be happy for David once he saw how truly happy Charlie had made him.

When David got to the most beautiful and well-known section of the piece, tears began flowing down his face. It was as if David gave the instrument a heart and soul and was all but making love to the Steinway.

Making love—that brought Parker’s mind to the last time he and David were together—in a three-way with Charlie. With tears still flowing, Parker sighed as he thought about the most incredible night of sex he had ever experienced.

Parker’s cock was hard and dripping as David entered the final movement of the piece. Thank God it had calmed down by the time David took his last bow. As Parker made his way to the lobby of the concert hall, he debated whether or not he should go to the stage door and try to see David.

He decided against it. Once he and David went their separate ways for college, David completely cut himself off from his best friend. He never replied to any of the countless emails he sent. When he contacted Charlie to see if there was a problem, he learned that he and David had broken up and that Charlie had begun seeing someone else. It seemed David had decided to let go of everyone in his past. Fucking bastard.

But that night, listening to the fucking bastard play like no one he’d ever heard before, Parker Miller fell in love with David again. Talk about an inconvenience. Justin Petersen, his music partner, and current boyfriend would not be happy about that at all.

David Chase’s hands were a blur as he nimbly ran them over the keys of the Steinway, making the instrument sing in perfect sync with the San Francisco Symphony. Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" ended with two soft, staccato notes, and the cheering audience rose to their feet. David walked to the conductor and shook his hand, and then repeated the gesture with the concertmaster.

He then stepped to the front of the piano and began a series of deep bows. His full head of long blond hair fell forward, and he pushed it away from his face as he rose from the bow. He walked off the concert hall stage and returned three times as the audience showered him with cheers and applause for his flawless performance.

After four sets of bows, David went upstairs to his dressing room and began changing out of his standard white tie and tails and into the jeans and t-shirt he wore whenever he was not on stage. His reputation as the bad boy of the classical music scene came partly from his showing up at post-concert receptions in his Levis and black V-neck t-shirt. The music snobs belonging to the symphony societies around the world always seemed shocked at his casual appearance. Ironically, that never stopped at least twenty men and women from requesting some "private time" after the reception.

As David zipped up the garment bag holding his tails, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!"

Michael Tilson Thomas, the symphony's conductor, walked into the dressing room. "Wonderful job, David. It was a joy to have you with us this week. And I'm here to accompany you to the reception at the Fairmont. The limo is waiting at the stage door." David let out a sigh. He hated the receptions as much as he loved playing the music. But he knew that it was all part of the contract that gave him his sizable fee.

As Michael led David to the stage door, he quietly admired that the talented pianist had the balls to wear what he wanted to the reception. He wished he could do the same thing but knew that the snobs that ran the symphony would have a cow if he did. As the two men walked outside, the limo driver opened the door, and they climbed in and took their seats. They arrived at the Fairmont Hotel, and the limo pulled into the VIP entrance around the back. A small group of people from the symphony organization met them.

After handshakes and pleasantries were exchanged, they entered the private elevator to go up to the outdoor terrace where the reception was taking place. David and Michael stood in the greeting line shaking hands and gracefully accepting accolades for the evening's concert. David had been through this routine countless times and went through the ritual on auto-pilot. Once he was finished with the line, he made the requisite rounds of the party and then excused himself so he could head up to his suite.

As he was riding the elevator to the twelfth floor, David pulled out his cell phone and auto-dialed Tran, the Vietnamese muscle-boy masseur he met up with on every trip to the Bay Area. "Hi, Tran. It's David. You available this evening? Great. See you soon—suite 1220 at the Fairmont. I’ll leave your name at the desk. Later."

David put the iPhone back in his pocket and sighed. He loved coming to the Bay Area for the simple reason he loved spending time with Tran. What started as a simple business transaction had turned into one of the only times that David could enjoy the company of another man and not think about the world of classical music and touring. The fact that Tran was incredibly hot was mere icing on the cake. What truly attracted David to his masseur was his wit, his smile, his intelligence, and his sense of adventure--all things he felt he lacked.

David often wondered what it would be like to have someone like Tran in his life—not just on his trips to NoCal. While he has had more than a few regrets in his life, his greatest one was leaving the true love of his life in Barnstable while he went to Russia to study piano.

For a long time, it only took mere thoughts of Charlie Danner to bring tears to his eyes and an ache in his heart. By the time his mother had informed him that Charlie had married and had adopted a young son, was he able to begin letting go of the emotional baggage he had been carrying with him. Of course, that was only possible when he didn’t think that those were the plans he and Charlie had made before the trip to Russia broke them apart. Yes, his greatest regret.

His second greatest regret? Having lost touch with Parker Miller, his former best friend. He received a couple of emails from Parker once he arrived in St. Petersburg for his studies. After that, nothing. It seemed both he and Parker moved on in very different directions and had no need for each other anymore. Yes, another considerable regret.

By the time he had finished his studies in Russia and returned to the States, David Chase had thoroughly and completely lost himself in his budding classical music career. His manager encouraged him to create a strong social media presence, and he began to develop his image as the sexy “bad boy” of the classical music world.

As far as his sexuality, to the public, he was a complete enigma. People seemed to wonder if this sexy pianist was straight, gay, or bi. Nearly every interviewer asked him questions about his sexuality. His standard answer was that he wasn’t there to talk about his personal life.

The sad truth for David was that he had no personal life. He spent nearly every waking moment working on his career. After just a year back in the United States, he began to see that his hard work and dedication were starting to pay off. He was an internet sensation. The top orchestras in the world were clamoring for him to perform in their seasons.

It was after three days of concerts with New York Philharmonic that David was taking some much-needed time off at his home in Westhampton when his manager called with the news.

“David! Benjamin here. You sitting down?”

“I’m out on the deck, watching the waves and enjoying a cocktail. Of course, I’m sitting down. What’s up?”

“People Magazine has been in touch, and they want to spend some time with you out there and do a photoshoot.”

“Really? Benjamin—really? You know how much I hate that shit.”

“This just isn’t for your run-of-the-mill photo shoot, kiddo.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s for this year’s Sexiest Man Alive issue. The fact they want to do a full shoot with you tells me that you just might be on the cover! That’s gonna blow your career through the stratosphere!”

“Fuck! I hate that! Can I think about it?”

“No, David. You can’t. I’m putting my foot down on this one. You will do it, and I promise you that it will pay off in spades! If you think your social media presence has helped your career, this is going to see things explode! You have a week to work on your tan and get those abs even more chiseled. They’ll be there next Tuesday morning.”

“Benjamin, right now, I hate you. And if this pans out, I promise to love you again. I want you here on Monday so we can talk about this before they get here. Plan to stay the night. Bring Sally if you want. Probably leave the boys at home.”

What truly pissed David off was knowing that this actually would be great for his career. Deep down, he hated that relatively few people knew that he was only the second American to win Russia’s International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition. And since Van Cliburn was the only other American to win that competition, David immediately entered the next Van Cliburn Piano Competition in Texas and easily won that—becoming the only American pianist to win both prestigious events. He would make sure that the interviewer was made aware of that rare achievement.

* * * * *

Tran Huang was already crossing the bridge to Alameda Island and home after the concert when David called. When he saw David's name on the screen, his heart skipped a beat or two. Tran collected himself before he answered so he would sound as professional as he possibly could. Once arrangements were made, his already hard cock twitched when he heard David say "later." Tran ended the call on his end and smiled.

He had known David was in town and had scored a seat in the mezzanine to watch his favorite musician perform. When David and the orchestra got to the section of the Variations that everyone knows from the film Somewhere in Time, tears came to Tran's eyes. It was at that moment he let the walls around his heart fall. It was at that moment he realized that he was falling for the man on the stage.

His closest friends had always criticized Tran for never having a steady or long-term guy in his life. He had always blamed his profession. He felt that as a first-class masseur, his clients knew that he could be quite intimate and never let his emotions get in the way. He told that story for so many years that he had begun to believe it himself. However, something was different now.

Tran understood David. He got that this amazing pianist had one lover—his career. He understood that somewhere in David’s heart, he was haunted by a long-lost love—or loves—and he lacked one thing—closure. He was aware that David had built walls around his heart that prevented anyone from getting into it as that former love had.

Tran also knew that someday—somehow—he would figure a way to penetrate that wall and fill all the emptiness that David tried so hard to hide.

It was about 11:15 when Tran walked into the Fairmont Hotel's lobby, massage table in its case, and slung over his broad shoulders. He knew the routine—a key card would be waiting for him at the desk. He would then ride up to the suite, quietly walk in, and set up his table.

Only this time, Tran walked into the suite and was surprised to see David sitting on the sofa in his plush, white bathrobe. David looked up at Tran and smiled. He stood and opened his arms to his guest as he set the portable table down in the foyer. "Tran! God, it's good to see you!"

Tran gave David a full deep-tissue massage, and by the time David flipped over for the second part, Tran had stripped entirely out of his clothes. As Tran was finishing the massage, David took the oil from Tran and stroked the hard, thick cock he wanted inside him.

Tran made love to David right there on the massage table and screamed in ecstasy as he fired shot after shot of scalding cum deep inside the pianist’s powerful ass. He wouldn’t let David touch himself the entire time they were making love. Tran had his plans for that huge cock and saw those plans through as the two men moved to the bedroom. Tran rode David’s cock to an earth-shattering climax as he came a second time all over the musician’s amazing abs and chest.

By the time they cleaned up and took a quick shower, it was 3:30 in the morning, and both men fell asleep in each other’s arms. Tran sighed with the beautiful feelings that washed over him as David held him. On the other hand, David tried hard to find even a tiny bit of the feelings he used to have when he would hold Charlie Danner in his arms.

* * * * *

Why the fuck do hotel phones ring so damned loud? David cursed under his breath at both the piercing noise and the empty space next to him. The ringing telephone was relentless, and David finally answered it.

“This better be good!”

“And good morning to you, Sunshine!”

“Aww fuck, Ben! You do realize there’s a four-hour time difference between New York and here, don’t you?”

“Yes, and it’s two in the afternoon here. Were you planning on spending the entire day in bed?”

“Yes! No! I don’t know. I don’t care. Why are you waking me up?”

“I’ve changed your flight. We got you a last-minute booking on Ellen in three days. She’s been wanting to get you on her show since the People Magazine thing. Keanu Reeves had to cancel, and her people contacted me about your availability.”

“Okay. That’s actually great news. I’ve wanted to be on Ellen’s show for a while now.”

“Excellent. Glad I finally did something right for you!”

“Whatever. I might bitch a little—”

“A lot—"

“Yeah. Whatever. So what are the plans?”

“You’ll fly to Los Angeles tomorrow morning, and her people will pick you up at the airport. You’ll have a pre-interview thing over lunch. Then you’ll have a free day and film the next. I have you booked on a flight back to New York.”

“Okay, sounds good. No. Great, actually. Thanks for letting me know.”

“I’ll email you all the details later this afternoon once Chandra gets all the flight info finalized. Oh—and great reviews on the concert last night. You always make me proud, David.”

“I’ll be sure to check them out—not!”

“I know, I know—you never read your reviews. But you’ll get a kick out of your Instagram and Twitter feeds!”

“Cool. Look, I need to get some food in me and get cleaned up. I’ll talk to you later, Ben.”

“Ciao”

“Later.”

David hung up the phone and found himself smiling at the thought of being on Ellen. Of course, the smile vanished when he saw that his bed was empty. What the Hell happened?

He walked out into the sitting area and found a note on the coffee table.

Sorry I couldn’t stay. Had a client this morning. Thanks for a wonderful night. Can’t wait to see you again, David. I love our time together—just so you know.

Best,

T.

David sighed with disappointment. It seems Tran always leaves before he wakes up and leaves a similar note. Just when he thought there might be something—anything—it seems some things never change.

David hopped in the shower for a quick cleaning, and after drying his hair and brushing his teeth, he stepped back into the suite. He was bombarded with the combined smells of massage oil and hot man-on-man sex. Nope. There won’t be room service this morning!

David grabbed his iPad and headed down the elevator to the lobby coffee shop. While the restaurant was rather busy, he was happy to be seated in a short amount of time.

As soon as he sat down, he ordered a coffee and opened the menu. He decided that he was too hungry for the menu and decided to hit up the buffet line. Once he filled his plate with scrambled eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon, and an English muffin, he sat down to check out his social media feeds and stuff his face.

“David?”

Great. David wasn’t in the mood to face fans this early in the day. He decided to ignore whoever it was and kept looking at his Twitter account.

“David Chase?”

Dammit! He really didn’t want to look up, but he did—and couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Parker? Parker Miller?”

“David!”

“Oh my God!”